Lowell, MA

Lowell Code of Ordinances sec. 266-73.1 prohibits parking any recreational vehicle, auto home, mobile home, boat trailer, semitrailer or combined vehicle-and-trailer on any City street…

Lowell has no blanket year-round overnight street-parking ban for passenger cars, but Code sec. 266-74 bars long-term 'storage' or abandoned parking (a vehicle posted and left over 72…

Lowell Code sec. 266-73.1 prohibits on-street parking of any commercial vehicle (as defined in 540 CMR 2.05, including commercial-plate vehicles) between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. and…

On-street parking in Lowell is regulated by Code of Ordinances Chapter 266 (Vehicles and Traffic), which sets 15-minute, 30-minute, one-hour and two-hour zones (enforced 8:00 a.m. to…

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90 Section 22C governs removal and disposal of abandoned motor vehicles statewide, setting uniform procedures that apply on public ways and private…

Massachusetts adopts statewide EV-readiness requirements under the State Building Code (780 CMR) and Stretch Energy Code, mandating that new construction include EV-ready parking…

Massachusetts caps what a tow company can charge you after a nonconsensual tow. Under 220 CMR 272.03(1) the maximum charge for towing a passenger automobile up to five miles is $132.00…

Lowell has no year-round watering ban, but Code of Ordinances Chapter 272, Part 5 (Restrictions on Use of Water, sections 272-101 through 272-106) lets the Lowell Regional Water…

Lowell Code of Ordinances section 227-3(L) (Overgrowth) makes it unlawful to allow weeds to reach 18 or more inches on any developed lot, or within 150 feet of a building, street…

Removing a public shade tree in Lowell requires action by the tree warden and, under MGL c. 87, sec. 3, a posted and published public hearing with at least seven days' notice; no…

In Massachusetts, trees within or along a public way are public shade trees that may not be cut, trimmed, or removed by anyone except the tree warden or under a written permit from the…

A City of Lowell permit is required to install any swimming pool that holds water over 24 inches deep, including self-install and inflatable temporary pools; the pool must also meet…

Every residential swimming pool in Lowell must be enclosed by a barrier at least 4 feet high with a self-closing, self-latching gate; where the house wall forms part of the enclosure…

In Lowell, storage sheds over 200 square feet require a building permit; sheds up to 200 square feet and 16 feet tall may sit within side and rear yard setbacks but must stay at least…

Per the Massachusetts State Building Code, a building permit is required to change the use or occupancy of a structure, so converting a Lowell garage or accessory building to living…

Lowell allows one accessory dwelling unit by-right on any lot that permits single-family homes, capped at 900 square feet or 50% of the principal dwelling's gross floor area (whichever…

No Lowell ordinance restricts dogs by breed, and breed-specific regulation is barred statewide: both Lowell Code Section 104-9.1 and Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 140, Section 157…

Lowell City Code Section 104-34 flatly prohibits keeping animals or fowl within the city limits except licensed pigeons, so backyard chickens, roosters and other livestock are not…

Lowell sets no numeric per-household limit on the number of dogs or cats a resident may keep; instead, every dog over six months must be licensed and larger numbers are regulated…

All dogs in Lowell must be leashed when off the owner's property. Off-leash is permitted only at designated dog parks or on the owner's controlled property.

Massachusetts authorizes its chief apiary inspector to require registration of every bee colony kept in the commonwealth, with a fee capped at five dollars per registrant regardless of…

Massachusetts prohibits private possession of most exotic and wild animals statewide. MassWildlife regulates permits, and the list of prohibited species is uniform across the…

Lowell Code Section 204-5G expressly exempts aircraft operated in conformity with federal law and FAA air traffic control from the city's noise prohibitions. Aircraft in-flight noise…

Lowell Code Chapter 204, Section 204-3 sets district-based dBA limits keyed to time of day. In single- and two-family residential districts the limit drops to 40 dB(A) from 10:00 p.m…

Lowell Code Section 204-4C(8) limits erection, demolition, alteration, repair and excavation of buildings to 7:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. on weekdays. Work outside those hours requires a…

Lowell Code Section 204-4C(1)-(4) declares unlawful any unnecessary motor noise (backfiring, racing, tire-screeching), improper horn/signaling-device use, discharge of engine exhaust…

Lowell Code Section 204-4C(12) makes it unlawful to operate any radio, stereo, loudspeaker, instrument or other sound-reproducing device so as to disturb a reasonable person; operating…

Lowell Code Section 204-3 sets a full district-by-time dBA table (residential 40-50 dB(A), industrial up to 70 dB(A) daytime), measured at the property boundary. Section 204-3F…

Lowell Code Section 104-29 prohibits owners from allowing a dog to bark in the open, outside any building, repetitively for more than 30 minutes between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m…

Lowell is one of 22 Massachusetts communities where open burning is prohibited at all times. Under 310 CMR 7.07(3)(e), no resident may conduct open/outside burning of brush, leaves, or…

Wood-burning fire pits, chimineas, and outdoor wood-burning fireplaces are prohibited in Lowell because open burning is banned at all times under 310 CMR 7.07(3)(e). The Lowell Fire…

Lowell property owners must keep yards and lots free of dead brush, tall grass, and fire hazards under the city nuisance ordinance and state fire code, though there are no…

All consumer fireworks are illegal to sell, possess, or use in Lowell. Massachusetts is one of the few states with a total ban under M.G.L. c. 148, section 39, and Lowell City Code…

All Lowell residences must have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors meeting Massachusetts requirements under 527 CMR 1.00 and MGL c.148. A Fire Department inspection…

Massachusetts requires a state fire marshal license and local fire chief permit to store flammable gases including propane above specified threshold quantities.

Massachusetts bans any open-air fire statewide unless the local forest warden or fire chief issues a permit good for no more than two days. Violators face a fine up to $500 plus the…

No building permit is required for a fence up to six feet in height on or close to a lot line, but a building permit is required to construct any fence over six feet. Corner-lot fences…

In Lowell's transit-oriented and mixed-use development overlays, chain link fence, barbed wire, razor wire, and chicken wire are not permitted where visible from public streets or…

Lowell allows a fence up to six feet in height on or near a lot line with no building permit; a fence over six feet requires a building permit. Within the corner-clearance triangle at…

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 49 establishes a statewide spite fence statute treating fences over six feet erected maliciously to annoy a neighbor as a private nuisance subject to…

An as-of-right home occupation in Lowell may show no exterior sign at all. Only a home occupation operating under a Special Permit may display a single address sign or nameplate, not…

An as-of-right home occupation in Lowell may not generate any customer, pupil, employee, or client trips to the site and may have no non-resident employees. Customer visits and…

Massachusetts state law preempts Lowell's home-occupation zoning for licensed child care. A family child care home or large family child care home is an allowable use by right and…

The Lowell Zoning Ordinance treats a home occupation as an accessory use that is incidental to residential use. A larger home occupation with up to three additional employees may be…

Massachusetts has no cottage food statute and no state cottage food licence. A home kitchen selling food is treated as a food establishment, and the permit comes from the local board…

Massachusetts has no microenterprise home kitchen permit and no home restaurant category. The one route to serving cooked meals out of a private kitchen is the bed-and-breakfast branch…

Lowell STR guests must comply with on-site parking minimums under the zoning ordinance and all on-street parking regulations including overnight winter bans during snow emergencies.

Lowell's Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 290) contains no 'short-term rental' use category. Transient, paid lodging falls under 'Boarding or Lodging House' or 'Tourist home/Bed & Breakfast…

Massachusetts law (G.L. c. 175, Sec. 4F) requires every short-term rental operator to maintain liability insurance of not less than $1,000,000 covering each short-term rental, unless…

Lowell's Zoning Ordinance caps accessory room rental by a resident owner at two non-transient roomers or boarders. A dwelling where lodgings are let to four or more unrelated persons…

Massachusetts imposes a statewide 5.7% room occupancy excise on short-term rentals, plus optional local and community impact fees collected uniformly through DOR.

Lowell's historic housing stock triggers the Massachusetts Lead Law requiring full de-leading of pre-1978 homes where any child under 6 resides, a critical compliance issue for…

Lowell condo associations may levy common area assessments under MGL c.183A, with a super-priority lien for up to 6 months of unpaid common charges that takes priority over a first…

M.G.L. c. 183A, § 10(c) requires a Massachusetts condominium to keep a defined set of records up to date within the Commonwealth and to make them available for reasonable inspection by…

Massachusetts overrides some HOA and condo restrictions by statute. M.G.L. c. 184 § 23C voids deed covenants and condo-document provisions that forbid or unreasonably restrict solar…

Massachusetts gives owners an affirmative right to install electric vehicle supply equipment in their own unit or in a parking area they hold exclusive use of, and M.G.L. c. 183A, §…

Massachusetts gives a condominium's organization of unit owners express statutory power to levy fines, and attaches almost no conditions to it. M.G.L. c. 183A, § 10(b)(5) authorizes…

Massachusetts is not a UCIOA state, and its condominium lien rules sit in a home-grown statute, G.L. c. 183A, § 6. The lien attaches automatically when an assessment falls due and is…

Massachusetts runs the opposite way from states that cap association leasing bans. M.G.L. c. 64G, § 15 provides that nothing in the short-term rental chapter confers a right to lease…

Lowell residents who post a No Soliciting or No Trespassing sign at their home can require door-to-door solicitors to skip the property, enforceable as criminal trespass.

Massachusetts requires hawkers and peddlers selling goods door-to-door to obtain a state license from the Division of Standards in addition to local permits.

Owners of vacant lots in Lowell must keep them free of trash, overgrown vegetation, and dumping, and secure them against unauthorized access.

Lowell property owners must clear snow and ice from sidewalks abutting their property within a set period after a storm ends, with fines for noncompliance during harsh winters.

Lowell requires building and electrical permits for solar PV installations, with Historic Board review in historic districts and an as-of-right solar overlay allowing ground-mount…

Massachusetts MGL c.40A s.3 preempts most local and HOA restrictions on solar, so Lowell condo associations and HOAs cannot unreasonably prohibit rooftop PV.

Massachusetts regulates structure heights near public-use airports statewide through the Aeronautics Division, requiring permits for tall structures that may obstruct navigable…

Massachusetts heavily restricts vape retail under M.G.L. c. 270 § 28, banning flavored vape products statewide and limiting flavored nicotine vape sales to licensed adult-only smoking…

Massachusetts lets each city and town zone the time, place and manner of cannabis retailers and cap their number, but a municipality cannot limit retailers below 20% of its…

Massachusetts preempts local bans on personal cannabis cultivation under MGL c.94G §7, allowing adults 21+ to grow up to six plants per person and twelve per household statewide.

Massachusetts has no statewide omnibus drone statute, so recreational flying follows federal FAA rules. But across the roughly 450,000 acres the Department of Conservation and…

Massachusetts sets a statewide minimum wage of $15.00 per hour under MGL Chapter 151, and generally preempts cities from adopting higher local minimum wages.

Massachusetts provides paid family and medical leave through the PFML program under MGL Chapter 175M, plus paid sick time under the Earned Sick Time Law for most employees.

Massachusetts regulates all tidelands and coastal development statewide under Chapter 91 (MGL c.91) and 310 CMR 9.00, requiring state licenses for structures and fill in tidelands…

Massachusetts regulates stormwater discharges under the Wetlands Protection Act (MGL c.131 §40) and 310 CMR 10.00, applying uniform Stormwater Management Standards to projects…

Massachusetts requires a License to Carry under MGL Chapter 140 Section 131 to carry concealed handguns, with applications processed by local police chiefs subject to suitability…

Massachusetts requires a valid License to Carry under MGL Chapter 140 Section 131 to transport loaded handguns in a vehicle, with strict storage rules applying to long guns and…

Beyond frost depth and snow load, the Massachusetts design criteria table sets weathering, termite risk, ice barrier, flood and air freezing index values that apply to every home built…

Massachusetts sets one frost line depth for the whole state: 48 inches. Footings must bear below that depth anywhere in the Commonwealth, and cities and towns do not set their own…

Massachusetts publishes a ground snow load for every one of its 351 cities and towns in a single state table, ranging from 25 psf on the Cape and Islands to 60 psf in the hill towns.

Massachusetts lists a minimum flat roof snow load for every city and town, and requires designers to use whichever is larger: that listed floor or the load calculated from the local…

The Expanded Gaming Act divides Massachusetts into three casino license regions and caps category 1 licenses at one per region. A resort casino can open only in a city or town that…

Massachusetts law bans commercial gambling but carves out G.L. c. 271 § 7A for nonprofit raffles and bazaars: veterans', religious, fraternal, educational, and civic groups that have…

Massachusetts bans gaming for money only in a public conveyance or public place, or in a private place where the player is trespassing. G.L. c. 271, § 2 does not reach cards, dice, or…

Massachusetts legalized sports wagering under G.L. c. 23N, with retail betting live January 31, 2023 and mobile apps following March 10, 2023. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission…

The Massachusetts General Laws contain no sobriety checkpoint statute. A full-text search returns nothing for roadblock, roadblocks or sobriety checkpoint, and the single hit for…

Massachusetts has no statute granting a right to record police. It has G.L. c. 272, section 99, one of the strictest wiretap laws in the country, and the operative word in it is…

Massachusetts has no general stop-and-identify law reaching people on foot. The duty at G.L. c. 90, section 25 attaches only to a person operating or in charge of a motor vehicle, and…

Massachusetts has no clause saying lawful cannabis possession is not grounds for a search, unlike Michigan or Maryland. What it has instead is G.L. c. 276, section 1, which narrows…

Massachusetts treats a golf cart and a low-speed vehicle as different machines with different rights. A true golf cart may be driven on a public way only under one narrow carve-out in…

For nonpayment of rent, Massachusetts requires a 14-day notice to quit under M.G.L. c. 186 § 11 (leases) or § 12 (tenancies at will). After the notice expires, the landlord must bring…

Massachusetts recognizes an implied warranty of habitability and gives tenants strong remedies. Under M.G.L. c. 111 § 127L, after certified code violations and proper notice, a tenant…

MGL Chapter 239 sets uniform statewide summary process eviction procedures for residential tenancies, establishing notice requirements, court process, and tenant defenses applicable in…

Massachusetts has no general statute requiring advance notice before a landlord enters. M.G.L. c. 186 § 15B(1)(a) instead limits when a lease may permit entry, to inspect, make…

Massachusetts strictly limits late fees. Under M.G.L. c. 186 § 15B(1)(c), no lease or rental agreement may impose any interest or penalty for late rent until the rent is at least 30…

To end a tenancy at will (month-to-month), Massachusetts requires written notice equal to one full rental period or 30 days, whichever is longer, under M.G.L. c. 186 § 12. Fixed-term…

Massachusetts prohibits rent control statewide. Voters abolished it through a 1994 ballot referendum codified as Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40P, the Massachusetts Rent Control Prohibition…

Massachusetts has one of the nation's strictest security deposit laws. A landlord may collect no more than one month's rent as a security deposit, must hold it in a separate…

Massachusetts requires 20 years of continuous adverse possession to claim title to land. Under M.G.L. c. 260 § 21, an action to recover land must be brought within 20 years after the…

Massachusetts protects agricultural land use through MGL Chapter 40A Section 3, exempting agriculture, horticulture, and floriculture from most local zoning restrictions on parcels of…

Massachusetts protects farms from nuisance lawsuits under M.G.L. c. 243 § 6: a farm operating more than one year using generally accepted agricultural practices cannot be found a…

Massachusetts requires purchasers of tobacco and vape products to be at least 21 years of age under MGL Chapter 270 Section 6, predating the 2019 federal Tobacco 21 law.

Massachusetts became the first state to ban all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes and flavored vapes, under M.G.L. c. 270 § 28, effective June 1, 2020.

Massachusetts Scenic Roads Act protects trees and stone walls along designated scenic roads, requiring public hearing before any removal or alteration.

Massachusetts bars any vehicle from mounting or displaying a flashing, rotating or oscillating light in any direction except under G.L. c. 90, section 7E, and section 7E hands out red…

Massachusetts has no dash camera statute, but G.L. c. 90, section 13B expressly permits a device to be mounted on or affixed to a vehicle windshield, dashboard or centre console so…

Lane splitting is illegal in Massachusetts. G.L. c. 89, § 4A tells the operator of a motorcycle that he shall not pass any other motor vehicle within the same lane, and the ban carries…

Massachusetts bans plate covers by naming the device rather than by regulating tint or reflectivity. G.L. c. 90, § 6 says number plates shall be kept clean with the numbers legible and…

Nothing in the Massachusetts General Laws prohibits a radar detector in a private car. A full-text search of the General Laws returns no hit at all for radar detector, speed measuring…

Massachusetts writes its studded tire rule as a ban on the warm half of the year rather than as a permission for winter. G.L. c. 90, § 16 makes it unlawful to operate a motor vehicle…

Massachusetts lets you put aftermarket film on the front side windows, the rear side windows and the rear window only if it transmits at least 35 per cent of visible light and reflects…